Outlaw Audio Launches ICBM

4-Oct-01

Outlaw Audio, Inc., the only consumer electronics brand sold exclusively via the Internet, has launched its ICBM, Integrated Controlled Bass Manager, to make up for a major shortcoming of the new DVD-Audio and SACD players. The ICBM is now available for immediate sale at www.outlawaudio.com. While DVD-Audio and SACD players are designed to produce audio sound quality that is superior to that of compact discs, most of these units lack the bass management systems needed to make this audio output fully compatible with the popular 5.1-channel satellite/subwoofer home theatre speaker systems. DVD-Audio and SACD deliver up to six channels of full-range audio signals, designed for large speakers with plenty of bass. However, there is no way to extract the bass from all these channels to feed to the subwoofer of a 5.1-channel system. Furthermore, the small 5.1 satellites must absorb this excess bass energy. This can cause these speakers to distort. As one Outlaw noted, ""Early adopters and audio reviewers of DVD-Audio and SACD playback systems have been very critical of the lack of bass management in these products. We listened to the concerns of our customers, the audiophile community and the press, and decided to correct this problem with our own proprietary design solution."" The Outlaw Audio ICBM provides a complete bass management system for these players. This ""sonic missile"" is a product that will be welcomed by audiophiles for its ability to control and enhance the low frequency sound quality of music. While primarily intended for DVD-Audio and SACD, the ICBM is also useful as a high quality alternative to the less comprehensive digital bass management included with home theatre receivers and even some expensive preamp/processors.The slim, one-rack unit-high, ICBM allows individual adjustment of the bass redirection crossover point for each channel and logical channel pair in a home theatre system. With the ICBM, the front left/right, front center, surround left/right and rear center speakers may be individually set to roll-off bass information at 40, 60, 80, 100 or 120 Hz, or to bypass bass management when it is not needed. Bass information is then properly routed to the main channel speakers, or to a subwoofer. This capability, though standard in digital audio systems for conventional inputs, is missing in all but a handful of DVD-Audio and SACD players, due to the use of analog outputs on the player and analog ""pass-through"" inputs on the receiver. Without the use of the ICBM, low frequency performance is compromised and damage to individual speaker components can occur.In addition to the wide range of crossover points, the ICBM is unique in its ability to create either mono or stereo bass signals, by summing the bass from each side of the soundstage to an individual subwoofer output. Recognizing that DVD-Audio and SACD are music systems, the ICBM accommodates the ""large,"" front left/right speakers with extended low frequency capabilities found in many audiophile systems. Optionally, the ICBM allows bass information to be sent to both the subwoofer and the front speakers, a feature not found in many audio products. A simple rear-panel switch controls this redirection.There are separate controls on the front panel for both subwoofer output level and LFE boost. The latter provides up to 10 dB of LFE injection to fine-tune the low frequency output for maximum impact.For optimum performance of the subwoofer with the frequency specifications of certain speaker and processor systems, a rear-panel switch allows the signal to be set at either a 12 dB- or 24 dB-per-octave slope.The ICBM was designed in the U.S. by Outlaw's own engineering team. This 100 percent analog design maintains signal integrity by avoiding any additional analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversions. High quality components are used throughout, including gold-plated RCA jacks for inputs and outputs, metal film resistors, low-noise op amps and high quality film capacitors. The Outlaw Audio ICBM is now available for $249 at the Outlaw Web site, www.outlawaudio.com.

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